The 3-day bed rest study is being carried out in Nottingham in parallel to a 60-day bed rest study by the European Space Agency at the MEDES facility in Toulouse, France. Bed rest is a tried and tested way to measure the ...

Campgrounds and cottages are getaways for humans. They are also locations where grizzly bears are acquiring appetites for human foods that are high in saturated fats. Diets high in saturated fats are associated with many ...

Many diabetes patients must inject themselves with insulin, sometimes several times a day, while others take medications orally to control blood sugar. The injections, as well as the side effects from both regimens, can be ...

Researchers at the University of Iowa have discovered that a molecule which can sense the swelling of fat cells also controls a signaling pathway that allows fat cells to take up and store excess glucose. Mice missing this ...

It might look like fun at first glance but it is not – bedrest participants spend months in bed as doctors take regular blood samples and continuous tests to chart how their body reacts to a sudden sedentary lifestyle.

A spacecraft carrying supplies for a new physiology experiment led by a University of Waterloo researcher will launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, the Canadian Space Agency announced.

A new weapon in the war against type 2 diabetes is coming in an unexpected form: fat. Researchers have discovered a new class of potentially therapeutic lipids, called fatty-acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (FAHFAs). These ...

Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance (IR) is the condition in which normal amounts of insulin are inadequate to produce a normal insulin response from fat, muscle and liver cells. Insulin resistance in fat cells reduces the effects of insulin and results in elevated hydrolysis of stored triglycerides in the absence of measures which either increase insulin sensitivity or which provide additional insulin. Increased mobilization of stored lipids in these cells elevates free fatty acids in the blood plasma. Insulin resistance in muscle cells reduces glucose uptake (and so local storage of glucose as glycogen), whereas insulin resistance in liver cells results in impaired glycogen synthesis and a failure to suppress glucose production. Elevated blood fatty acid levels (associated with insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus Type 2), reduced muscle glucose uptake, and increased liver glucose production all contribute to elevated blood glucose levels. High plasma levels of insulin and glucose due to insulin resistance are believed to be the origin of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, including its complications.